I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather this week – nothing huge, just my usual summer cold, right on time. A year ago or so, I got a copy of A Handbook of Invalid Cooking: For the Use of Nurses in Training Schools, Nurses in Private Practice, and Others Who Care For the Sick ( A | BN | K ), published in 1898. Sadly, it’s not an original (that would be awesome, wouldn’t it?) but a reprint; that said, it’s still pretty neat.
It was written by Mary A. Boland, and she says in the preface that the idea came from a discussion at Johns Hopkins about the need for a book on how to feed sick people. The recipes are designed for small quantities, so that you don’t need to divide by 50 to feed one sick person, and that each recipe has been tested and perfected, as needed.
The first section is “explanatory lessons,” which covers the basics of chemistry that one might need to know in order to care for patients. Then there are recipes for all sorts of food and drink, and then a whole chapter on how best to feed children. Viewers of Call the Midwife might really find this interesting.
I’ve seen mention of beef tea in historicals, usually when someone needs some fortification or warming up with something SUPER uncomplicated for an upset tummy.
I thought, maybe, it was just another term for beef broth, BUT APPARENTLY NOT.
Carrie: My dad used to feed it to me when I had surgery, perked me right up. I always thought that was just rehydrated bouillon.
RHG: Nope. It’s way less complicated than that.
Beef tea is literally made from the juices you get when you cook, well, beef. Normally, these would end up as drippings, so the Handbook’s instructions are designed to collect those juices for the good of the patient.
Bottled. Select a half pound of well-flavored beef, cut away everything except the lean fiber, divide it into small pieces, put them into a glass jar, cover, and place in a deep saucepan of cold water; heat gradually for one hour, but do not allow the temperature at any time to exceed 160° Fahr.; then strain out the juice and press the meat. The liquid should be clear red, not brown and flaky. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. A half pound will make three or four tablespoons of juice. If it is to be used constantly, a larger quantity may be made at once, as it will keep eighteen hours in a refrigerator. Beef-juice may be made into tea by diluting it with warm water.
You can also use your broiler, but I like my canning supplies. Also I have doubts about how well my broiler works.
The time consuming part is carefully excising the connective tissue. My paring knife is sharp, but I kinda wished I had a scalpel. (It’s for the best I don’t, otherwise I’d be yelling “SCALPEL” all the time, and my roommate would be very annoyed.)
I did not manage to keep it from getting above 160 – I think it hit about 190. It wasn’t boiling, at least?
Look! It’s juice!
Boland’s serving suggestion is to put your beef tea in a wine glass.
I mean, I guess?
It’s… beefy tasting water? I can see how this would be good for someone with a tummy that’s just getting over itself. It makes a good next step when you can do more than a BRAT diet, but not much more.
I was kind of worried that this would result in half a pound of wasted beef, because it’s cooked in a jar and not straight boiled. But while it is unseasonsed, it’s not sad. You could dunk it in sauce or add it to a soup, if you wanted.
So there you are, next time you see a heroine drinking beef tea, you’ll know she’s drinking it from a wine glass!
This may sound like a stupid question, but I’m asking it anyway as I’ve never had this: Does the beef ‘tea’ taste sufficiently “cooked” or more “raw”? Because in all honesty, broth or even bouillon is fine by me.
As someone who thinks beef drippings make the best salad dressing ever, I’m not as enthused about this for some reason. Maybe it sounds too watery, less beefy? And if anyone is cutting off the fat, let me give you my address.
There’s a cut of beef called eye of round that used to drive my dad crazy. It looks promising, it’s often cheap, and there is no good way of cooking it. I was so excited when I read about beef tea in Larousse because I was like look, finally, the perfect use for eye of round. He was unimpressed, but then, he was very much of the walk it off school of disease treatment, and not inclined to admire Victorian heroines of a consumptive habit. Maybe, if I could have told him it comes in a wine glass…nah, he would have felt cheated of the alcohol – whiskey or brandy being the next line of treatment, assuming ignoring symptoms didn’t make them go away.
I’ve always wondered what the difference between beef tea and beef stock was, now I know! Thank you RHG I love these posts, I hope you are feeling tip top jolly soon!
Mr Jazz always drinks Bovril when he’s under the weather (or back in the day had dunk too much beer). If you don’t have Bovril in the US, or anywhere but the UK, it was one of the first commercially available stock cubes made of beef. Not that easy to find these days, at least not the cubes, and he says it has to be cubes, the spread doesn’t work !!??!
Oh and removing the connective tissue? I find the easiest way is to pin down an edge of the connective tissue on the board (with yor nails if they are long enough) and slide the knife along it at a shallow angle You get much more of the meat doing it that way than if you just slice it off.
I recently read a book Healing Your Gut with Bone Broth. It was very informative and since then I’ve been reading books about broths and stocks for healing. Thanks for your post, the synchronicity of it reminds me that the universe is powerful and doesn’t always need to smack me in the face with an idea that is significant to my life and well being. :))
Giles Coren made a beef tea in a SuperSizers episode, and he was sick all night from it. Even as he made it I was thinking it looked like walking salmonella. Then came his late night confession cam when he was running out every few words. I don’t think it was cooked this way, but I’d have to check again.
I know it’s not the same, but Mom always made us drink beef broth when we were ill. Reminds me of that. And, sometimes, I still do.
@kkw, I always buy eye round for a mustard roast! Sprinkle garlic all over, slather in mustard (you want to cover it completely) onion flakes on top if you want, and into a 300 oven till it’s about 140, take it out, tent it withfoil, and then slice.
I always make extra, because it’s AMAZING in a sandwich.
@LILinda, yes! That part was was both hilarious and really, really disgusting. As I recall, there was no heat involved in the making of his beef tea. Which, yuck. I don’t remember the time period they were modeling.
RHG – I envy your pottery collection. Random pottery in the background is one of my favorite parts of your historical kitchen!
Beef tea must have been a good restorative after the doctor performed a bleeding or while caring for a knife or other bleeding wound.